The Native Hawaiian Center was established in 2001 after Honolulu Community College obtained a U.S. DOE Title III Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Grant. It officially opened its doors for business in August 2002.
Prior to the Center's opening, students of Hawaiian ancestry enrolled at HCC in Career Technical majors were serviced through Po'ina Nalu (HCC's implementation of what was formerly known as the Native Hawaiian Vocational Education Project, now Native Hawaiian Career Technical Education Program) which opened its doors to the campus in 1994.
The beginnings of the Native Hawaiian Center can be traced to the 1986 Ka'u Report which asssessed the status of Native Hawaiian students enrolled in the UH system at that time. A direct result of the initial Ka'u Report was the establishment of the Gladys Ainoa Brandt Kamakakuokalani Native Hawaiian Center at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In 1988, UHCC Chancellor Joyce Tsunoda convened a Native Hawaiian Advisory Council to assess and provide recommendations of issues relating to Native Hawaiian higher education. This comittee produced a report calling for the establishment of a Native Hawaiian presence on each campus to promote the retention and graduation of Native Hawaiian students on each campus.
Combined, these two reports paved the way to the eventual establishments of the NHVEP (now NHCTEP) Po 'ina Nalu program in 1994 and the Title III program in 2001.
Na Mea Hawai'i, Computer Technology, Learning
Music
98.5 FM Radio
105 da KINE FM Radio
Movies
New Zealand filmmaker Lee Tamahori (The Edge) directed this brutal but powerful story drawn from the culture of poverty and alienation enveloping contemporary Maori life. Rena Owen plays the beleaguered mother of two boys--one of whom is already in prison while the other contemplates membership in a gang--and a daughter whose potential is being smothered at home. Temuera Morrison gives an outstanding and sometimes shocking performance as the violent head of the household, more adept at keeping up his social stature within his community of friends than holding down a job. The film pulls no punches, literally and figuratively, but despite the rough going, Tamahori gives us a rare and important insight into a disenfranchised people digging down deep to find their pride.
One of the most charming and critically acclaimed films of 2003, the New Zealand hit Whale Rider effectively combines Maori tribal tradition with the timely "girl power" of a vibrant new millennium. Despite the discouragement of her gruff and disapproving grandfather (Rawiri Paratene), who nearly disowns her because she is female and therefore traditionally disqualified from tribal leadership, 12-year-old Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is convinced that she is a tribal leader, and sets about to prove it. Rather than inflate this story (from a novel by Witi Ihimaera) with artificial sentiment, writer-director Niki Caro develops very real and turbulent family relationships, intimate and yet torn by a collision between stubborn tradition and changing attitudes. The mythic whale rider--the ultimate symbol of Maori connection to nature--is also the harbinger of Pai's destiny, and the appealing Castle-Hughes gives a luminous, astonishingly powerful performance that won't leave a dry eye in the house. With its fresh take on a familiar tale, Whale Rider is definitely one from the heart.
The Land Has Eyes is an 87-minute narrative drama about Viki, (introducing Sapeta Taito) a young South Pacific Islander who redeems her family's name by exposing the secrets of her island's most powerful and important people. Shamed by her village for being poor and the daughter of a wrongly convicted thief, Viki is inspired and haunted by the island's mythical ..warrior woman' (Rena Owen, Once Were Warriors). The lush tropical beauty of Rotuma (part of Fiji) contrasts with the stifling conformity of her island's culture as Viki confronts notions of justice and her own personal freedom.
(- anything from "Na Maka o Ka 'Aina" and Edgy Lee)
About me: Our Mission:
The Native Hawaiian Center is committed to actively preserving and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture and values. Through an array of comprehensive services, we strengthen the college's educational programs and enable students of Hawaiian ancestry to succeed in their academic, career and individual endeavors.
Native Hawaiian Center
Honolulu Community College Bldg 7, Room 433
874 Dillingham Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96817
Online Now!
